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Cat C cars - would you buy one?

Have you ever bought a Cat C car? Would you? A Cat C car is a vehicle written off by an insurance company because the cost of fixing it is more than the value of the vehicle. Repaired Cat C cars can be real bargains and perfectly safe to drive but while professional motor traders have to mention the carís history, private sellers donít, so we advise caution - run a data check on any vehicle you intend to buy - http://www.rac.co.uk/buying-a-car/rac-car-data-check/

A mate of mine has just bought a Cat.C repair car, he is a mechanic, so knows what he is doing, after 35 years in the trade.He got it up on a ramp, and could see the new front support truss that had been fitted, the car was in A+ condition.It was a 53 plate Rover, with only 41K on the clock, with all the old MOTs to prove it, not bad for the £450 he paid for it.Now, that's the kind of deal I like!

Also, there is a bit on nonsense involving the way insurance companies work. A friend had a light shunt in a Laguna a few years back, the only result of which was a small dent below the nearside tail lamp, and a broken lens. Insurance company wrote it off as Cat C, but it was repaired with careful use of a small ball pein hammer and a woodenrod, a can each of primer and paint, and a new lens. Total cost £35. Not counting waiting for paint to dry, took about an hour and a half. The estimates from bodyshops were all for new quarter panels and total respray. (Whatever happened to panel beaters?)

Also, there is a bit on nonsense involving the way insurance companies work. A friend had a light shunt in a Laguna a few years back, the only result of which was a small dent below the nearside tail lamp, and a broken lens. Insurance company wrote it off as Cat C, but it was repaired with careful use of a small ball pein hammer and a woodenrod, a can each of primer and paint, and a new lens. Total cost £35. Not counting waiting for paint to dry, took about an hour and a half. The estimates from bodyshops were all for new quarter panels and total respray. (Whatever happened to panel beaters?)

That is what happens with "Authorised" repairers. They are one of the reasons that insurance costs as much as it does. Most will use inferior parts or even secondhand parts, which is now big business. As I have said many times the insurance trade is a big rip off.